Howard Hanson, you incurable Romantic. I wish I had time to write about you today, your birthday, but I don’t. For four decades, you were the director of the Eastman School of Music; you were the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for your Symphony No. 4; and you were the champion of dozens of American composers as conductor of the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra.
Criminally, only a fraction of your recordings have made it to compact disc. Here’s one of them that didn’t, of you conducting your Symphony No. 4:
Movt. I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMMDVJ2EARA
Movt. II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny8RMEGv5GY
Movt. III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A7jFyddiOo
Movt. IV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhFIeigxjI
The symphony is subtitled “Requiem,” and dedicated to the memory of your father. I could listen to this music again and again (and probably will).
I salute you, Kindred Spirit!
PHOTO: Howard Hanson, romantic spirit